


If the Orb Hadn't Broken

by SilverTonguedSlytherin1



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-03
Updated: 2016-05-03
Packaged: 2018-06-06 03:27:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6736228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverTonguedSlytherin1/pseuds/SilverTonguedSlytherin1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the Battle at the Ministry, the prophecy about the Dark Lord and Harry Potter is broken. But what if it hadn't shattered? What if Lucius Malfoy had Apparated away as soon as he had it? How would that change things?</p>
            </blockquote>





	If the Orb Hadn't Broken

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or the Slytherins would've been treated much better. All rights belong to J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury, Scholastic, Warner Bros., Universal, and other people/corporations. I am making no money from this, so please don't sue me.
> 
> Also, the beginning paragraph is lifted almost directly from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I'm not claiming to own that, either. So no copyright infringement is intended. :)

Harry did not have time to think; there was no choice. His friends were beaten and bloody, he couldn't allow them to be killed or worse. The prophecy was hot with the heat of his clutching hand as he held it out. Malfoy jumped forward to take it.

  
The blond man barely had it in his hand when Tonks, Shacklebolt, Moody and several other Order members Apparated in. Lucius Malfoy was not too proud to run from a fight, especially one he didn't need to fight. So he did what anyone in his position would do: he left.

  
He gave Bellatrix a signal, one recognized from years of working together. It was simple gesture, and the message was too. It meant, 'I have what we were sent for. The vermin are yours. Have fun.' And he Apparated away, leaving the battle in Bella's very capable hands.

  
Lucius arrived at Malfoy Manor, strolling in with the confidence of a man who knows he's won. He walked into the parlor, where the Dark Lord was seated in one of the wing-backed arm-chairs as though it were a throne.

  
"My Lord," Lucius said, kneeling and kissing the man - no he was much more than that - the King before him's robes.

  
"I trust you were successful, Lucius?" came a cold voice.

  
"Yes, my Lord." He presented the glowing orb reverently with both hands.

  
"You have done well this night, Lucius. But where are the others?"

  
"They are still at the Ministry, my Lord. The Potter brat showed, just as you said. But he must have informed someone before coming. Members of the Order of the Phoenix arrived, just after I had retrieved the prophecy from him. I felt it wise to bring the prophecy to you immediately rather than risk its harm in a battle. Bellatrix is more than capable of handling a fight, my Lord."

  
"Yes, indeed. You chose well, if cowardly." The Dark Lord said, knowing Lucius' true reasons. "But I did not choose you for your bravery. You serve me well and loyally, as long as you continue to do so, you will be treated well. Do not ever fail me, Lucius. You have seen the rewards of being favored. Trust me that you do not wish to see the consequences of your Lord's dissatisfaction. Leave me now."

  
"Yes, my Lord. Thank you, my Lord." Lucius left, keeping his head bowed and eyes firmly on the floor. He knew he was not yet completely back within his Lord's good graces, but he hoped this was a step in the right direction.

 

Meanwhile, at the Ministry, it was a battle for everyone's lives, such that few had noticed Malfoy's absence yet, including the Death Eaters. After all, Lucius Malfoy was a political tactician, able to charm a basilisk some said. He was a fair duelist too, but Bellatrix Lestrange, the woman rose duelling to an art form. So naturally, when things went from oral negotiations to their agressive counterparts, all eyes looked to the brunette witch for orders, which she gleefully and carefully gave.

  
The battle was not long, but it was fierce. The members of Dumbledore's Army fought bravely alongside the members of the Order of the Phoenix against the Death Eaters.  
Sirius Black fell, the life ripped from his laughing face by an Avada Kedavra thrown by his cousin. Harry Potter truly hated the color green.

  
Dumbledore arrived, so the battle was won. Though a few Death Eaters did manage to Apparate away. Fudge was still unwilling to admit You-Know-Who's return. So he decided on a different truth.

  
Sirius Black had decided to take over the Dark Lord's role, which is why he freed the Death Eaters from Azkaban. They had lured the Potter boy and his friends here, to the Ministry, in order to kill the boy. It was clear now that the boy was not purposefully being dishonest. He had little way of knowing Black from You-Know-Who after all, the poor child.

  
And so it was that the Wizarding World once again accepted The Boy Who Lived back into their ever mercurial good graces, though they of course didn't listen to him. He was just a boy after all, a boy with too much responsibility and loss on those thin shoulders.

  
Thus the Wizarding World did not prepare for the coming of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

 

Sixth year was bad for Harry. Everyone kept shooting him pitying looks. They seemed to think he was broken or something. Worst of all was the way Malfoy strutted, however.  
Harry knew that Lucius Malfoy was one of Voldemort's Inner Circle, one of his most trusted Death Eaters. He also knew Malfoy Senior would do all he could to return to his master's good graces. There was no doubt the prophecy had helped with that. And Harry had little doubt that Fudge was not firmly under the elder Malfoy's control by now.  
So, yes, Draco Malfoy swaggered all over the school, more arrogant than ever, if that were possible. Most students attributed it to his father's reinstatement as a School Governor, but Harry knew better.

  
The year went by slowly but surely. And Draco Malfoy was nowhere near the Astronomy Tower when Snape killed Professor Dumbledore.

 

Seventh year saw Draco Malfoy safely at Hogwarts and Harry Potter running for his life.

  
When Potter and his friends were captured and taken to Malfoy Manor, the place was devoid of its usual residents. Lucius Malfoy was at the Ministry, which he now ran, though according to his Lord's desires, of course. Narcissa was having tea with the French Minister of Magic, assuring the man that it was in France's best interest not to intervene.

Bellatrix Lestrange was in Azkaban, now under the control of the Dark Lord, where she was mirthfully torturing - er, interrogating - several Order members on the whereabouts of the Potter brat.

  
So you see, no one was there when the Snatchers arrived. Thus the Golden Trio were taken to the Parkinsons instead, so they never met Luna or Mister Ollivander in the Malfoy family's dungeon. And it was the Parkinsons rather than the Malfoys who faced the Dark Lord's wrath.

  
Somehow, though, Harry, Ron and Hermione found themselves at Gringotts, where Griphook betrayed them. Hermione Granger would never put "stole a dragon from Gringotts" on a resume, though it was still a marvelous feat.

  
The Battle of Hogwarts was truly a tale for the ages, but the battle between good and evil always is. Draco Malfoy went to the safety of the Dungeons with the other Slytherins. In the Common Room, he directed the younger years to Floo to Malfoy Manor. He and the other upper years would stay and join the fight if they must.

  
When Slughorn came for reinforcements, Draco convinced the other Slytherins to join in, if only to get out of the Dungeons. They'd choose which side to fight on when they got up there.

  
Potter was dead, lying on the cold ground at the Dark Lord's feet. Draco looked carefully, but there was no sign of life. The blond felt nothing, nothing but relief. It hadn't been Granger.

  
Longbottom killed the snake. Draco was glad; for all he was proud of his House, the beast still scared him.

  
Then Longbottom stood, ready to fight the man who brought so much fear. Draco stood with him. His family was shocked and outraged. Then Potter sprang upward; the boy truly was like a snake sometimes. As the Dark Lord turned to face him, Bellatrix Lestrange turned to face Draco and Neville. Wands raised, the five dueled.

  
Realization dawned on both Lucius and Narcissa the moment the Dark Lord and Bellatrix fell. Draco Malfoy took orders from two people, and they were not the two who had just fallen.

  
But Draco had also realized something; people will fight, even when there is no hope, perhaps especially when there is no hope.

 

After the war, Lucius Malfoy was sentenced to Azkaban, though the Malfoys being who they were, managed to gain his release after a few years.

  
Neither Narcissa nor Draco carried Dark Marks, and after Draco's performance during the war, well, few were truly willing to hate the blond. So it wasn't long until the Malfoy name was restored, to perhaps even more glory than before.

  
Ronald Weasley had been killed during the war, and while it took some time for her to heal, Hermione Granger eventually did. About a year before Lucius's release, she married Draco with Narcissa's full approval, for while the woman hated to see the blood of her line soiled, she recognized the need to bolster the Malfoy name within the Wizarding World.

 

Twenty years later saw Minister of Magic Harry Potter and his wife Luna see their youngest son, Albus Severus, onto the Hogwarts Express. They greeted the Malfoys cheerfully when they saw them. Scorpius Malfoy was the spitting image of his father, though he had his mother's brains. Their daughter, the young Seraphina, would have to wait two more years to join the boys.

  
The parents agreed to meet for dinner at the Malfoy's that night. For now, they all had to get back to work.

  
Draco sighed when he reached his office at the Ministry. No one, especially not his father, had questioned why Draco had taken the position as Undersecretary to the Minister. Just as no one had noticed how the Ministry had grown more and more powerful over the years.

  
After all, two facts are universally true. 1.) Humans will fight when they feel caged, but will do exactly as you wish when given the illusion of freedom. 2.) It's almost always better to be the power behind the throne than to actually sit upon it.

  
So, yes, life was good for the Malfoy family. They were very pleased with how things had turned out, and they now had far more power and freedom than they ever would have under the Dark Lord.

  
However, while all had been thankful for Lucius retrieving the prophecy at the time, not even they seemed to realize how it had changed the future. No, if one thing was for certain, it was that Lucius had made a very lucky catch.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic did not turn out as planned. I have a habit of this happening. Hmph. I may edit it at some point.
> 
> For those of you who are reading 'Of Handshakes and Other Things That Could Have Been,' I know I should be working on it. But my muse kept coming back to this idea, and I hope that by appeasing her, I'll be able to return to our regularly scheduled Slytherin Harry programing. :)
> 
> Thank you for reading! Please comment; I love them!


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